Learn about life afloat the easy way

Life on a narrowboat can be as peaceful as it is idyllic BUT you need to understand the pros, cons, highs, lows, and day to day logistics in living on England's inland waterways. Let me help you find out all you need to know before you commit to what could be a very expensive mistake.

2014 10 12 Newsletter – The Pros And Cons Of Buying An Ex Hire Boat

What a wet and windy start to the week. I started work at 8am, then went back to the boat to change my soaking clothes at 9am. But before that I had the pleasure of moving two boats; one off the boat cradle on the slipway back into the water and another off its mooring and on to the half submerged cradle at the bottom of the slipway so that it could be pulled out of the water by our ancient JCB.

The wind made both jobs very interesting indeed.

The first boat belongs to proud new owner and regular site user Simon Birt. It’s a 2003 60′ traditional stern boat built by S M Hudson which appears to be something of a bargain.

Simon’s boat, Genevieve, has a traditional layout with a boatman’s cabin at the rear and the engine room in front of that. Most narrowboats have a Morse control gear selector and throttle control. You just push the lever forwards or backwards to select forward or reverse gear. The further you push the lever in either direction, the faster the boat moves.

The old traditional boats, and the ones like Simon’s designed along those lines, have separate gear selector and throttle controls. The gear selector is a brass handle which you pull towards you to put the boat into reverse and push away from you to select forward gear. Somewhere in the middle is neutral. Neutral is rarely marked so you have to guess where it is if you don’t know the boat. The engine speed is governed by a wheel. It’s called a speed wheel. You rotate it one way to increase the engine speed and the other to decrease it.

These controls aren’t the best in the world if you want to do something quickly because if you want to go from forward to reverse you have to use the speed wheel to reduce the engine speed to idle, pull or push the gear selector rod in the opposite direction, then quickly turn the speed wheel again to increase the engine speed. With a Morse control you simply move the lever from one end to the other, briefly pausing at neutral. A speed wheel takes a bit of getting used to, ideally on windless day and somewhere other than on a cradle seven or eight feet off the ground.

The boat was lowered into the water, then I spent a few seconds fumbling with the controls in the driving rain as the stiff breeze pushed me sideways across the marina. With a little rope pulling assistance from JCB driver Jim we managed to tie the boat securely to the side of the slipway before I drove to a mooring at the far end of Meadows marina to collect the second boat.

Our two marinas are always a challenge in the wind. Monday was no exception. It’s usually a case of having to be a little heavy handed with the throttle to maintain any effective steering, something which is always a little risky when you’re crabbing across an open stretch of water towards a waiting cradle and a very nervous looking JCB driver.

Unusually for me, there were no mishaps so once the boat was safely on the slipway I was free to return to my boat for a much needed change of clothing and to put on my bomb proof waterproofs ready for a very wet morning waddling around the site doing something other than grass cutting.

We’ve reached the time of year when we can focus on proactive rather than reactive tasks. I’ve probably cut the grass for the last time this year and the willow’s rapid growth has ceased for another season. It’s time to think about removing this season’s squirrel damaged oak and, sadly, half a dozen irreplaceable hornbeam which are damaged beyond recovery.

Our larger wood needs thinning out. There are far too many oak and ash growing too close to each other so I’ll probably need to take 150 – 200 of the weaker trees out this winter.

I look forward to the winter woodland projects but I’ll be quite sad while I work. When I began working at the marina five years ago, the woodland area close to our mooring was very much neglected. There were a few little used and overgrown paths along the wood’s edge closest to Meadows marina and very little else.

I’ve had the freedom to manage the woods as I see fit. I’ve created paths, removed restrictive fencing, built bridges over ditches, removed stakes and protectors from thousands of trees, removed weaker trees to give the stronger ones more space to grow and planted over 1,000 shrubs to provide ground cover for birds and small mammals.

This coming winter will be my last.

Next spring Sally and I will set sail to explore the waterways network. Maintaining and developing the woodland isn’t considered a priority. I do it because I love woodland areas and think that our two woods offer an interesting addition to the many acres of easily accessible meadow walks available on site.

I hope that my replacement will hold a similar view.

Ex Hire Boats – Do They Make Suitable Live Aboard Homes?

Have you ever considered buying a hire boat after it’s finished transporting happy holiday cruisers on short breaks? Hire boats are often snapped up by new live aboard boat owners, but are they really a good buy?

I’m not sure that they are.

A hire boat is designed to accommodate the maximum number of people for relatively short periods. Those people spend much of the day cruising and very little time sitting inside leading a “normal” life. Long cruising days are often followed by long evenings in the pub before a few hours in bed before beginning the cycle again.

Because of the crews holiday needs, the boat is all about bedrooms and bathrooms. A sixty feet long boat is a common length for a live aboard boat. A sixty feet long hire boat will sleep six or more. The one below will sleep nine.

Calcutt Boats’ Burdock

The plan is of Burdock, the longest in the Calcutt hire fleet. The space labelled 2 & 3 is the seating in the saloon area which can be converted into a double bed. The two spaces labelled number 12 (one on the port and one on the starboard side) are bunk beds. Number twenty three is a double bed with a single bed above it.

Up to nine people can sleep on this boat, and they do on a regular basis. I’m always amazed by the number of people that can shoehorn themselves into the boat, and the amount of stuff they bring with them. We had two families take the boat out earlier in the year, four adults and five children. After and seemingly endless stack of bags, boxes and suitcases disappeared onto the boat, two of the adults drove to Tesco in Southam to stock up with food and drink for the trip. They returned after spending £400, not all of it on drink. The wharf staff then helped them load twenty food filled plastic bags into the little remaining space.

In addition to the nine berths are a toilet and shower room and another toilet. Each toilet deposits waste into a coffin sized holding tank underneath.

The heating on many hire boats and on half of our own fleet is gas. I don’t know if any hire boats have solid fuel stoves. Most don’t because of the safety risks and because of the space they take up.

Outside the boat, the bow is open to the elements and will seat six people comfortably. The rear, as with the majority of hire boats, is a cruiser stern which means that there is a large rear deck where the steerer and three or four other holiday hirers can stand in comfort while they cruise.

The electrics on board are pretty basic. There are two 110ah batteries in the domestic bank and an additional 110ah for starting the engine. There is a 1,000w inverter on board for running low power mains appliances.

Compare the above specification to my own boat which is designed and equipped to accommodate just two people in comfort for long term off grid cruising.

At sixty two feet, my boat is marginally longer than the hire boat above but because it has a traditional rather than a cruiser stern I probably have an additional six feet internal cabin space.

The downside is that I don’t have as much space at the rear of the boat for people to stand and talk to the helmsman during a cruise. Having said that, on discovery days I have two guests at the back of the boat with me. One or the other of them is steering while the other guest and I try to stay out of the way. When I’m cruising on my own, I have a four feet long tiller for steering. When I have guests I switch to a two feet long tiller to free up vital space.

On the hire boat, the front well deck is open to allow hirers to sit in comfort while they watch the world go by. On my boat a triangular cratch board and cover has been fitted to convert this space into a very useful lobby which we use to store stuff we don’t want in the boat like the hose reel, bags of coal, the ash bucket, outdoor shoes, a mop and bucket, a pair of garden shears for taming otherwise ideal moorings and a towel for the dogs. The covered space allows us to dry them off in wet weather before they come into the boat. The covered area also helps retain the heat in the cabin when we open the front doors.

Because we don’t have the logistical challenge of sleeping six or more people every night, vital space is available to make our lives more comfortable. For a start we have room for a solid fuel stove.

I’m an evangelist for stoves on live aboard boats. If you don’t have one, you’re asking for trouble. They may well take up vital space, require much more effort than a mechanical heating system in terms of keeping them topped up with fuel and cleaning them, but they are reliable.

My Torgem stove was installed when the boat was built in 1977. It’s still going strong. The flue pipe has been replaced but apart from that it’s always been there to provide a reliable heat source when it’s needed. In a perfect world I would replace my stove with a more efficient Morso Squirrel, but the Squirrel is slightly larger than the Torgem so I would have to extend the hearth another three inches into the centre of the boat and sit three inches closer to a stove which is sometimes to hot as it is now. I’ll make do with the Torgem for now.

Mechanical central heating systems will break down at some stage, usually when you need them most. With a solid fuel stove in place you’ve always got another string to your bow.

So we have room for a solid fuel stove and room for some comfortable fitted seating where we can relax on a cold winter’s evening and watch the fire’s flickering flames. Under the seating is some very useful storage space, something which there is very little of on a hire boat.

The hire boat above has very little storage space because most of the space inside the boat is taken up by beds, an extra bathroom an open plan front deck and a large open back deck. On my boat there’s more storage space than I can shake a stick at as you can see in this video. The plentiful storage space means that we can keep our small living space very tidy indeed.

My boat was deigned to sleep five. It still could, but one of them would need to be a child. The original owner and his wife had three small children. The length of one of the bunks, a space I now use as my office desk, reflects that. I have disposed of the mattress which covered the small bed base so I now have a dedicated and very comfortable desk.

Behind where I sit at my laptop are two full size bunks. If we ever make any friends, and they are daft enough to want to stay the night, they can sleep on the bunks in comfort.

The main sleeping area is the fixed double bed in the bedroom which is just in front of the engine room.

I mentioned that the heating on many hire boats is gas. Gas central heating is very expensive to run and produces a wet heat which aids condensation. I stayed on one of Calcutt Boats’ hire boats for ten days in November 2011 when my own boat was taken away to have the new steel cabin fitted.

The majority of our boats with gas heating have Alde boilers but the smaller boats have Riviera heaters. Over the ten days on board I used two full 19kg propane cylinders at a cost of £40 each. The £8 a day average is nearly twice the cost to run my solid fuel stove.

I believe that the new Alde compact boiler is more economical to run but I can’t find any average gas consumption figures. However the quoted 405g/h seems quite high.

Hire boat electrics are pretty basic. The boat I’ve used for this comparison has two fairly low capacity batteries in the domestic bank. The boat has a total of 220ah to provide power to the on board electrics and a charger so that the boat can be plugged into the national grid via the shore line to charge the batteries when the boat returns to base and there’s a small inverter to run the television and some low power mains appliances. And that’s it.

I have four batteries in my domestic bank which total 540ah. I too have a charger built in to enable me to charge the batteries from the mains and I have an inverter. Mine isn’t that much bigger than the hire boat but it will run a washing machine at a push. I also have a 300w solar panel array with an MPPT controller and I have something which no live aboard boater should be without. I have a battery monitor which enables me to see the capacity remaining in the battery bank at the press of a button.

Of course, all of these things can be added to the hire boat after you’ve bought it but they’re an additional expense which you may not have considered and things which may be included if you buy a second hand boat which has been designed for extended cruising.

A perceived benefit with ex hire boats is regular servicing.

It’s true that hire boat engines are maintained on a regular basis, but they need to be because of the frequent use. At seven months, Calcutt Boats’ season is shorter than some hire companies. Our first boats of the year go out at Easter. The last of the year’s hirers return at the end of October. Some hire boat companies operate all year round.

People who hire narrowboats generally don’t hire them so that they can moor in one place for days on end. Most plan quite ambitious routes for their week or fortnight away. Two popular routes from Calcutt Boats are the circular Warwickshire ring and the out and back cruise to Oxford. Both necessitate cruising for seven or eight hours a day to complete roughly 100 miles and 100 locks for the former and 80 locks for the latter.

These routes are chosen regularly throughout the season so it’s not unusual for a hire boat to be moving for fifty or sixty or more hours a week for months on end and to suffer the inevitable knocks caused by continuous cruising in all weathers by often novice crews.

Most hire boats are worked quite hard.

I know two people who have bought ex hire boats to live on. Both were purchased as DIY projects. One was bought four years ago and still isn’t finished.

Gary started by considering what he needed to do to make the boat work as a comfortable live aboard. He came to the conclusion that he needed to rip out all the internal fitting and start again. He realised that as a single boat owner he didn’t need two toilets on board. He had to completely dismantle the bathroom before he could remove the back-breakingly heavy waste tank with its decade long accumulation of crusty unmentionables.

By the time he had finished removing what he didn’t want in the boat he was left with something very similar to a sailaway. Just in case you haven’t come across them before, a sailaway is a part finished boat, widely available for purchase by DIY enthusiasts who want to fit out their own boat. Here’s an example of a company offering sailaway boats with various options.

So Gary purchased a complete boat and then removed all of the internal furniture and bulkheads to take it back to a sailaway state. And then he spent the following four years considering how to fit it out, and then trying to find the time, energy and money needed to finish the project. Three years later, he still hasn’t quite managed it.

There you are. A hire boat may at first appear to be a reasonable choice for your new floating home. Now you know the pros and cons. Do you still want to buy one?

I Need Some Help!

Each time I write a newsletter, I tick another subject off the list of things which those new to boating have told me that they want to read about. The hardest part of the process isn’t the writing itself, it’s constantly thinking of new content for each issue. The trouble is, I don’t know what you want to read. I think I keep the newsletters reasonably interesting but I don’t know for sure. That’s where I need your help.

Can you let me know what you would like to read in the future? Are there any areas of narrowboat life you don’t think I’ve covered enough or areas which I’ve missed completely? Please let me know what you want to read about. Thanks for your help.

Newsletter Index

I created the site just over four years ago to provide a source of information for anyone interested in narrowboats and the possibility of living on one full time. The site has grown to encompass a comprehensive listing of inland marinas in England and Wales, dozens of articles, a forum and regular newsletters. I’ve already created (below) indexes of the site articles and the more popular forum posts. I thought it was about time I created an easy to use index of the newsletter content. Here’s the index so far.

5th October 2014

I ran short of time during this week and couldn’t think of much to write about anyway, so I just detailed an idyllic week we spent away from the marina, pottering about for a few days in Braunston and then finishing off the week on the south Oxford canal down as far as Fenny Compton. Six months before the start of our continuous cruising lifestyle, it was just what we needed to whet our appetites.

Emergency food on board – Some of the most pleasant places to moor are a long way from the nearest supermarket. Here are some suggestions to ensure that you’re never short of a tasty meal on your idyllic canal-side retreat.

Cruising in adverse weather conditions – Steering a narrowboat over the glassy surface of a placid canal on windless day in the middle of summer is child’s play. Here’s what you need to do on a “normal” day’s cruise.

living on board in the winter, the cost of living afloat generally and where you can moor your floating home are all subjects which are misunderstood by many aspiring narrowboat owners. Here’s what you need to know.

The pros and cons of a wide beam boat – More and more wannabe boaters are considering more spacious wide beams rather than narrowboat. There is clearly more living space on board but how practical are wide beam boats on the inland waterways?

The dreaded weed hatch – Sooner or later your engine will start to overheat, you’ll lose propulsion and you’ll know that you need to dive down your weed hatch to free an obstacle or two from the propeller. Here’s how to do it properly and a list of the tools you’ll need.

Practical experience for lone boaters. Here’s an account of a day’s cruise with a nervous single boater. He wanted enough confidence to deal with locks on his own. I spent the day with him, designed a route to include twenty six locks and spent ten hours helping him hone his locking skills.

The A -Z of everything narrowboat – With over 5,500 posts and pages on the site now, quickly finding exactly what you want can sometimes be a problem. For this newsletter I started creating and A-Z index of all the site content.

Narrowboat Knots – At my first lock on my first cruise I watched my boat drift into the centre of the canal along with my twelve year old son. If you want to avoid the same embarrassment and potential damage to both your boat and your self esteem, you need to know how to tie your boat securely in a number of different situations.

Toilets is a subject often discussed by narrowboat owners but they usually talk about either pump out or cassette toilets. There is a third type though and it’s one which is both environmentally friendly and cheap to run. Here’s all you need to know about composting toilets.

Boat owners who live on board are considered to have a pretty simple and basic life by many living in bricks and mortar homes. Compared with the lifestyle of the farmers I’ve been staying with in the Philippines though, my UK life seems overly materialistic and expensive. Cou

Here’s an account of my very first winter on board and that of one of the site’s subscribers, Nigel Buttery. They’re very different experiences. My first winter was the coldest on record. Nigel’s is one of the mildest winters we’ve had for a long time.

I’ve also included to links to my Philippines blog. I spent the whole of February living in a rural farming community on the island of Negros.

Have you ever wondered how a narowboat is built. Here are the first two parts of a very detailed account of the building of a Sea Otter aluminium narrowboat. You’ll be particularly interested in Sea Otters if you don’t fancy the constant battle with rust that you have with traditional steel narrowboats.

The practicality of hosting Christmas afloat – How do you achieve a floating festive event (and do you really want to)?

Liveaboard case study, The Pearl – Tony and Jane Robinson believe in forward planning. They stated their narrowboat fund thirty years before buying their own boat. Now the two retired education workers moor in a marina for the winter then explore the waterways during the warmer months.

Fitting secondary double glazing – Fitting the panels is a simple operation for those with the most basic DIY skills, something which I sadly haven’t developed. As you might expect then, the fitting didn’t go as well as it should.

Narrowboat videos – I launched the Living On A Narrowboat YouTube channel

Managing your boat’s water supply. You can use your water supply as and when you need it when you live in a house with all mod cons. You can pretty much do the same when you’re on a marina mooring with a water supply just a hose length away. It’s a different kettle of fish when you’re on an online mooring.

Liveaboard case study – A prime example of mooring without a water supply on tap.

The folly of using unseasoned wood as a fuel – Here’s essential information if you plan to use logs you find to heat your boat for free

Creating lasting memories of your cruises – Slightly off topic, but please bear with me. You’ll have some wonderful adventures as you travel throughout the network. They’ll be adventures worth remembering but will you remember them? I have a very poor memory but instant and total recall of all my cruises is just a click away.

A disaster – I inadvertently deleted this week’s newsletter and there wasn’t a backup on the server. What a shame. It was all about the damage you can do to your boat if you don’t watch what you’re doing in a lock. You would have loved it!

Liveaboard Case Study – American Richard Varnes has taken a year out from work to cruise the canal network and write about his adventure. Here’s his case study and a few stories from his journey so far.

CART Guide Approval – The waterways’ governing body is now promoting the information packages available from this site. Yippee!

Narrowboat Insurance – A summary of insurance quotes from the major narrowboat insurers

Liveaboard Case Study – Keith and Nicky downsized their property in Jersey, used the released capital to buy their 57? “go anywhere” narrowboat and now live on their boat full time while they continuously cruise the canal network. They’re ridiculously young to retire, and I’m very, very jealous

Downsizing from a 3 bed semi to a narrowboat – What do you do with a lifetime’s accumulated possessions?

Keeping your stove glass clean – Maybe you think it’s an odd subject for the summer but you can’t trust the English weather. Late June and the stove was still on now and again. At least now I have a crystal clear view of the fire I shouldn’t need to light.

Traffic chaos caused by Braunston’s historic boat rally – On a day with high winds and a canal full of working boats returning home after the rally, I had the pleasure of taking some very nervous hirers out on the cut.

23rd June 2013 – The cost of a two week cruise. If you live on your own boat, what’s the real cost of taking it away for a two week break?

Case Study – Mary Anne swapped dry land home rental for floating home ownership. Now she loves life afloat and works from home.

Life as a continuous cruiser – The Holy Grail of narrowboat ownership. The ability to travel where and when you like. Peter Early tells all.

The Ashby canal cruise part two – We spent a bit more time on the Ashby before heading south again, joining the Coventry canal, this time following it into Coventry’s rather depressing and disappointing city centre, then retracing our steps back to Calcutt

Most popular narrowboat names – Here’s the definitive list of the top 200 most popular narrowboat names and a resource you can use to find out if any other boat has the same name as yours

Considerate boating – An article prompted after a near head on collision with another boat trying to avoid a fallen oak.

I was on holiday for the first two weeks of June. Sally and I cruised from Calcutt to Braunston, north along the north Oxford where we joined the Coventry canal briefly before taking a very sharp right turn onto the Ashby canal. Here’s a daily report of the first week of our holiday.

My comments about an encounter on the Oxford/GU section between Napton and Braunston sparked a debate about the pros and cons of wide beams on the cut.

Keeping dry – You don’t really need to limit your cruising to sunny summer days. There’s something very special about standing on the back deck in the pouring ran protected by a set of bomb proof waterproofs.

Do you really need a car? Living on a narrowboat is all about enjoying a simple and stress free life. Sally and I had a car each. Mine cost £2,000 to run in the previous 12 months so I decided to get rid of mine to see if I could manage without one.

Case study – Sarah lives on wide beam Antioch on the Leeds Liverpool canal. She can do man things with her hands. Here’s her story.

Be inspired – There are always reasons why you don’t make the move from bricks and mortar to steel and water. Here’s an anecdote which demonstrates once and for all that there really aren’t any worthwhile excuses.

Case Studies – I put together 21 of the best case studies and analysed and summarised the data in this low cost guide. If you want ton save yourself hundreds of hours of research and costly mistakes, you need to read this guide.

Case Study – Mike’s circumstances are similar to my own. He moved onto his boat after a failed marriage. He’s upgraded from a 27? GRP cruiser to a 50? narrowboat

As a result of the article about the downside of living on a narrowboat published in the 18th March newsletter, I asked liveaboard narrowboat owners to complete a survey to give a balanced view of the issues raised by Pauline. Here are the survey results and a much more positive article by liveaboard narrowboat owner and frequent forum contributer Peter Early.

Dealing with the coldest winter on record
Digital reading – A detailed review of the Kindle, the perfect solution for book loving boat owners

Comprehensive Site Article Listing

There are dozens of helpful and interesting articles on the site, but have you found them all? I thought you might appreciate a list of the more popular articles that you can glance through and click on the ones that take your fancy. Here it is.

Popular Forum Posts

There’s a wealth of information on the site in general, but if you’re struggling to find the answer to a particular issue, the forum is the place to find it. I’ve listed some of the more popular posts below but if you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask your question on the forum. If you don’t know how to create a post, or if you can’t log in, please let me know. I’ll be more than happy to get you up and running.

Aluminium Boats – They don’t rust so why don’t you see more of them on the inland waterways?

Remedies For Sooty Stove Glass – For me, one of the great pleasures of living on a narrowboat is a winter evening in front of a flickering fire. Here’s how you can keep your stove glass clear so you can see the fire in all its glory

A New Narrowboat Dog – Alan recently moved on board his own floating home. He loved his new boat but something was missing. Now he has a new best friend and he’s in love, although his new best friend has proven a bit of a challenge.

Electric Boats – What do they cost to run? Why would you want one? There’s a huge amount of information for you here if you’ve ever considered an alternative to a diesel narrowboat engine.

Pram Covers – “Pram cover” is the term for a cover over the rear deck, usually on a cruiser stern narrowboat. Here are the pros and cons.

Checklists – What do you need to check before you set off on a cruise? There’s some very detailed information including a very useful post by fellow Calcutt moorer Graham who has issues with his mobility after an RTA many years ago.

Television Aerials – If you can’t live without your Corrie, you’ll need a decent aerial for your boat.

My New Life – I urge you to read this forum thread. If you dream of living on your own narrowboat one day, reading this post, written by a new liveaboard boater, may well prove the catalyst you need. It’s essential reading for any aspiring narrowboat owner.

Narrowboat Ownership – How do you prove that the person offering a narrowboat for sale is the real owner?

Beds – The pros and cons of fixed doubles and cross beds. You need to read this if you are taller or slightly wider than average.

Flushing Out a Toilet Waste Tank – Emptying your pumpout toilet holding tank isn’t just a case of sucking out your unmentionables. You also need to flush water through the tank to remove the built up solids. Here’s how to do it.

Best Ex Hire Boats – Are you considering buying an ex hire boat to live on? Should you? Here’s some important information for you.

Liveaboard Conclusions – Mel Davies has been doing plenty of research into her hoped for lifestyle afloat. Here are the conclusions she’s reached and comments from a few existing liveaboard narrowboat owners.

Handling Floodwaters – How safe is a river mooring during and after heavy rain? Can you stay on a river when the level rises? What can you do to minimise danger?

Winter on the cut – Are you able to cruise all year on your boat or should you find a mooring for the winter?

Transporting your boat – Sometimes you may want or need to take your narrowboat by road rather than cruise along the canal. Here’s an idea of the cost

Bike types and preferences – If you don’t have a car parked near your boat, you’ll probably want a bike, but which type of bike is best?

Towing a butty – I’ve upset someone. I didn’t mean to. Wainbody wanted to know the best way of towing an unpowered second narrowboat (butty). I came across as patronising when I replied. It was unintentional but to make amends I thought I would ask anyone with boat handling experience to reply to his thread with some constructive advice. If you can help him, please reply to the post.

Diesel heating for boats – How important is a solid fuel stove on a liveaboard narrowboat? Is a diesel heating system OK as a primary heat source?

Computers on boats – Can a computer be powered from your boat’s 12v system or does it need to be plugged into the mains

Receiving post on your boat – How does the postman find you when you’re cruising? How do you apply for a driving license, a TV license or a bank statement when you have no official address?

Bikes on board – Many boat owners do not have cars so they rely on bikes to get them to the shops (or the pub). Some use bikes to collect their cars after a day’s cruising. There’s a huge selection of bikes to choose from. Which are the best for your boat? To tell you the truth, I don’t know the answer. Can you point forum member Ainslo in the right direction?

Paul Smith

After six and a half years living on a narrowboat on England's inland waterways, Paul and his wife Cynthia now wander Europe by motorhome during the winter, and on the Dutch and French waterways in the warmer months on their 32' Dutch motor cruiser.